I, the great swordsman, am definitely not a bootlicker

In the boundless desert, a team is struggling forward.

The endless sand dunes sparkled with golden light under the scorching sun, like a golden ocean, with surging waves yet heart-pounding silence.

This team was like a lone boat drifting in the desert ocean, their figures appearing extremely small against the backdrop of the desert.

Their footsteps were on the soft sand, and with every step they took, they would slide back half a step as the quicksand loosened, but each step seemed firm and powerful.

The desert is filled with a scorching heat that seems to burn people's souls.

"When the body is in pain, the mind is disturbed; when the body is in pleasure, the emotions are attached to that pleasure. Therefore, pain and pleasure are not the cause of the Tao. It is like drilling a fire and then pouring water on it; there will be no light to pierce the darkness..."

"Ah - I'm so hot, Zoro, aren't you hot? What have you been mumbling all the way?" Luffy stuck out his tongue.

Zoro, who was holding Chopper, wiped the sweat from his head and looked at him with disdain: "The strong never complain about the environment. You are wasting your energy by screaming all the time."

"That must be because I'm too weak and would have died a long time ago. I'm not afraid of the cold, but I'm most afraid of the heat..." Chopper lay on the wooden board, sticking out his tongue.

"Who told you to be so furry? Take off the fur!" Usopp said with a cane.

"You bastard! Don't look down on reindeer!" Chopper became angry.

"Hey! Chopper, don't get bigger, or I won't drag you!" Zoro was also helpless. He didn't know the principle of the animal-type devil fruit. It didn't care about the conservation of mass at all.

"Water!" Luffy was really thirsty.

"You can only drink one sip, Luffy, just one sip." Vivi emphasized again and again.

Luffy puffed up his rubber mouth and took a big, exaggerated mouthful...

Snapped!

Usopp slapped Luffy on the back of the head: "That sip of yours is too big, it's equivalent to more than ten sips of ours!"

puff!

Well, everything Luffy drank came out.

"Wait! Didn't you drink just now? It's my turn now!" Sanji pointed at Luffy and cursed.

"What are you doing? You made me spit out everything I drank. What I just drank doesn't count."

"What did you say!"

Bang, bang, bang! The three of them started fighting!

Zoro held his forehead slightly and said, "Who cares?"

"Don't fight! It's a pure waste of energy!" Weiwei was so worried.

Everyone took a few steps forward.

"Hey! Sanji, let's eat pirate bento." Luffy started again.

"No, you need Weiwei's permission!"

"Vivi, let's eat lunch. I really can't walk anymore." Usopp also asked for lunch.

"But we've only gone a quarter of the way."

"As the saying goes: When you're hungry, you have to eat. Haven't you heard of that?" Luffy expressed dissatisfaction.

"Okay, then let's walk to the next pile of rocks and take a rest." Weiwei expressed helplessness.

So Luffy started chanting again: "Pile of stones... pile of stones..."

I don’t know how long I walked, but I finally saw a stone pestle in front of me, and... a group of fallen birds.

"There are so many badly injured birds, Chopper! Come and heal them!"

While Zoro was guarding his luggage from being stolen by these deceitful birds, he complained, "Birds aren't food, are they?" "Do you remember the story of when you first went up to the sky to catch birds?"

"Bird? Luffy, wait a minute!"

Sure enough, the birds attacked the luggage!

"razor!"

Zoro now had several large birds with long beaks carrying luggage in their mouths.

"As expected of Mr. Swordsman!" Weiwei patted her chest to calm herself. "These are deception birds, thieves who specialize in stealing passengers' luggage."

"That's abominable! Sanji, let's just eat them!"

Just as Sanji was about to deal with them, a camel came running over, followed by an earthquake, and a huge lizard followed closely behind.

"...Santa Dora Lizard!!" Vivi screamed.

"Moonstep!"

Zoro grinned in the air. Have you ever heard of a sword technique that falls from the sky?

"Itto-ryu Feilong!"

The big lizard was cut in half.

So everyone ate lizard meat. After a full meal, after Chopper's cross-species communication, the camel successfully joined the group. Carrying Nami and Vivi, everyone set off again.

……

The desert sky gradually darkened, and as the last rays of sunlight faded, a full moon rose high in the sky. Finally, the rebel base, Joba, appeared before everyone's eyes.

However, looking at the dusty place and the silent ruins, it doesn't look like a place where people live.

The Straw Hat Pirates only found a stubborn old man in the city. He kept digging in a big pit and told everyone that the rebels had gone far away and moved to Cattleya.

Yoba is not the only one to be hit by sandstorms today. As early as three years ago, due to the continuous sunshine and the disappearance of the oasis, it has been frequently hit by sandstorms.

The uncle heard Vivi's name from the conversation of the Straw Hat Pirates. At this time, the two recognized each other. It turned out that the uncle was Duoduo, the father of the rebel leader Kosa, and this rebel leader Kosa was Vivi's childhood friend. The two became acquainted after a fight, and after Kosa risked his life to save Vivi, they established a lifelong friendship.

Afterwards, the Straw Hat Pirates stayed in Yoba for a night under the arrangement of Uncle Toto, while Luffy went to watch Uncle Toto dig a hole because Uncle Toto believed that water could be dug out.

After that, Luffy took matters into his own hands and dug up...sleeping...with the uncle...

The next morning, before leaving, Uncle Duoduo gave Luffy a glass of water. It is said that after Luffy fell asleep, Uncle Duoduo dug up moist soil and found a way to distill it.

"Joba will not be buried in the sand!"

……

It was still the endless desert. Not long after the Straw Hat Pirates left Yoba, Luffy sat under a dead tree and refused to move.

Seeing this, Zoro grinned and said, "Is it time for an open book exam? Let me think about it." So Zoro also sat next to Luffy and didn't leave.

"What happen to you guys?"

"I quit!" Zoro and Luffy said in unison.

"Ah!?" Luffy and the others were surprised.

"I think we should go and kill Crocodile!" Zoro grinned. "We can't stop the rebellion even if we go there, because we are pirates, and no one will believe what pirates say, right, Luffy?"

"Hmm!" Luffy said seriously, "If we stop the guy who wants to rebel, can we stop Crocodile?"

"That..." Vivi.

"You don't want anyone to die in this battle...! Those citizens... and us pirates!" Zoro spoke before Luffy.

Luffy looked at Zoro in surprise.

"But we're up against the Shichibukai, and there are a million men fighting, and you expect everyone to be okay! That's naive! Right, Luffy?"

"Yeah! Zoro thought the same as I did!"

"Hey! Please consider Vivi a little..." Nami was very angry.

"Nami! Wait a minute..." For the first time, Sanji did not object.

"What's wrong with this? I hope no one dies. What's wrong with this!?" Weiwei looked at the two of them angrily.

"People will die!" the two said in unison.

Bang bang! !

Both of them were knocked down by the furious Weiwei.

"Shut up!! Don't say such things again! If you dare to say that again, I won't forgive you! Aren't we trying to prevent tragedy now? Whether it's the rebels or the royal army, no one in this country is wrong. Why must someone die? This is all Crocodile's fault!"

Luffy then punched back, "Then why did you risk your life to do it? Even I know after seeing this country - what should we do first!"

Sigh~ I'm really not good at dealing with emotions, we can't just go up and beat her up...

Then Vivi pushed Luffy into the ground and held him down with a heavy hammer: "What the hell!"

Zoro had to do something, otherwise this wave of rewards would be 80% lost, so he stepped forward and grabbed Vivi's raised fist: "Enough, Vivi! We all know that you don't want us to fight Crocodile head-on, and don't want us to die at Crocodile's hands, so you avoided the important things and went to stop the rebels. In fact, you want to beat that guy up more than anyone else."

Weiwei's face darkened. "This is my own country's business. I'm already very grateful that you can send me back. I can't be so selfish... Apart from risking my own life, nothing else..."

Luffy suddenly interrupted and roared, "Let's fight for our lives together! We are partners!!"

Weiwei's eyes were moist, and she finally couldn't help shedding tears of emotion: "Luffy, Zoro..."

Ding! With the help of your friends, you've impressed girlfriend #6 with your sincerity and deepened your bond with her, earning you +1000 Love Points.

"Tell me...where is the crocodile?"